Greedfall

# Greedfall: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X + AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT — Benchmark Analysis

The combination of AMD's 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X and the Radeon RX 6600 XT presents an interesting case for Greedfall, a 2019 Action RPG. The CPU is a high-end desktop part with a 91st percentile ranking against all tested processors, while the GPU sits at the 70th percentile for all graphics cards. This pairing produces a clear bottleneck dynamic: at lower resolutions, the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth become the limiting factor, while at 4K, the GPU's raw compute throughput (10.60 TFLOPS FP32) struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher presets. The measured data shows a system that delivers smooth 1080p and 1440p gameplay but falls short of 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, making it a solid 1080p/1440p performer rather than a 4K solution.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p High, the combo averages 108 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 75 FPS, a 30.6% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 45 FPS, representing another 40% drop from 1440p. This steep decline — from 108 to 45 FPS across the three resolutions — indicates that the RX 6600 XT is the primary constraint, as the Ryzen 9 5950X's multi-threaded muscle (26,017 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) is not being fully utilized at higher pixel counts.

The Low preset shows an even more dramatic scaling pattern. At 1080p Low, the system hits 152 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 105 FPS. At 4K Low, it falls to 63 FPS. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 30.9%, while the 1440p-to-4K drop is 40%. These percentages are nearly identical to the High preset drops, which reinforces that the GPU's pixel throughput — not the CPU — dictates performance scaling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, you'd expect the percentage drops to shrink at higher resolutions as the GPU becomes more loaded; instead, they remain consistent.

Ultra settings tell a harsher story. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 69 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 48 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it collapses to 29 FPS. The 1080p-to-1440p drop is 30.4%, again consistent with the other presets. However, the 1440p-to-4K drop is 39.6%, slightly steeper than High's 40% but within the same range. This consistency across presets — approximately 30% for each resolution step — is a hallmark of a GPU-limited system where the RX 6600 XT's 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB frame buffer are the determining factors.

The Medium preset offers the only min/max FPS data in the measured results. At 1080p Medium, the average is 119 FPS with a min of 101 and max of 137. At 1440p Medium, it's 83 FPS average with 70 min and 95 max. At 4K Medium, it's 49 FPS average with 42 min and 57 max. The min-to-average gap widens at higher resolutions: at 1080p, the min is 15.1% below average; at 1440p, it's 15.7% below; at 4K, it's 14.3% below. This suggests frame pacing remains stable even as the GPU load increases, with no sudden CPU-related hitches emerging at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the data supports running at High or Medium with confidence. The 1080p High average of 108 FPS is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the 1080p Medium average of 119 FPS with a 101 FPS minimum ensures smooth gameplay even in busy scenes. Ultra at 1080p drops to 69 FPS average, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for dips; if you prioritize visual fidelity over absolute smoothness, Ultra is viable, but High offers a better balance with a 39 FPS buffer over Ultra's average.

At 1440p, High is the recommended preset. The 75 FPS average provides a solid experience, while Medium (83 FPS average, 70 FPS min) offers additional headroom if you're sensitive to frame drops. Ultra at 1440p falls to 48 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS target and likely to feel less fluid in combat-heavy sequences. The data suggests that 1440p Ultra is not worth the visual gains over High, given the 27 FPS difference between the two presets.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. The 4K Medium average of 49 FPS (with a 42 FPS minimum) is the only preset that approaches playability, but it still sits below 60 FPS. The 4K High average of 45 FPS and 4K Low average of 63 FPS show that even dropping to Low only barely exceeds 60 FPS, and that comes with significant visual compromises. The 4K Ultra average of 29 FPS is effectively unplayable for an action RPG requiring responsive combat. If you own a 4K display, the data indicates you should either accept Medium settings at ~50 FPS or drop to 1440p for a better experience.

The sweet spot across all resolutions is Medium. At 1080p Medium, you get 119 FPS average with a 101 FPS minimum. At 1440p Medium, 83 FPS average with a 70 FPS minimum. At 4K Medium, 49 FPS average with a 42 FPS minimum. The Medium preset consistently delivers the best minimum frame rates relative to averages, suggesting it's the most stable preset for this GPU. For most players, Medium at 1440p or High at 1080p will provide the best balance of visual quality and performance.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a Navi 23 chip manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's base clock is 1968 MHz, with a game clock of 2359 MHz and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. These clocks are relevant because Greedfall's performance scaling suggests the GPU is running at or near its boost limits during 1080p and 1440p gameplay, but the memory bandwidth becomes the limiting factor at 4K.

The GPU's 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units produce a pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute throughput of 10.60 TFLOPS positions this card as a mid-range performer, which aligns with its 70th percentile ranking against all GPUs. In Greedfall specifically, the 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS suggests the card's raw compute and memory bandwidth are insufficient for the game's highest settings at that resolution.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for 1080p and 1440p at all presets, as evidenced by the playable frame rates at those resolutions. At 4K, the combination of higher pixel count and larger texture footprints likely pushes memory usage closer to the 8 GB limit, though the measured data doesn't include VRAM usage figures. The consistent ~30% FPS drops between resolution tiers indicate the card's memory bandwidth (256.0 GB/s) is the primary constraint, as doubling the pixel count from 1080p to 1440p (2.25x pixels) doesn't halve performance — instead, it drops by roughly 30%, suggesting the GPU's compute units are also a factor.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (0.7% higher average score), Intel Arc A350M (0.8% lower), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (0.8% higher). These are all older or lower-tier cards, indicating the RX 6600 XT sits in a specific performance niche. Its passmark G3D score of 16,461 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,804 provide context for its general compute capabilities, but Greedfall's measured FPS data is the more relevant metric for this analysis.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the full preset range was measured. Low preset delivers 152 FPS average, making it the highest-performing configuration. Medium drops to 119 FPS average (101 min, 137 max), High to 108 FPS, and Ultra to 69 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 33 FPS, between Medium and High is 11 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 39 FPS. This suggests the Ultra preset introduces substantial visual effects that disproportionately impact performance compared to the step from Medium to High.

At 1440p, the same preset ladder was tested. Low yields 105 FPS average, Medium 83 FPS (70 min, 95 max), High 75 FPS, and Ultra 48 FPS. The percentage drops from 1080p are consistent: Low drops 30.9%, Medium drops 30.3%, High drops 30.6%, and Ultra drops 30.4%. This uniformity confirms that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, with preset choice having a relatively consistent multiplicative effect across resolutions.

At 4K, the results are as follows: Low averages 63 FPS, Medium 49 FPS (42 min, 57 max), High 45 FPS, and Ultra 29 FPS. The Low-to-Medium gap is 14 FPS, Medium-to-High is 4 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 16 FPS. The Medium-to-High gap of only 4 FPS suggests that High settings at 4K offer minimal visual benefit over Medium for a small performance cost, while Ultra's 16 FPS drop is disproportionately punishing.

The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the spread is 101-137 FPS (36 FPS range). At 1440p, it's 70-95 FPS (25 FPS range). At 4K, it's 42-57 FPS (15 FPS range). The shrinking range at higher resolutions indicates the GPU becomes more consistently loaded, reducing frame time variance. This is a positive sign for stability, even though average FPS drops.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested CPU-GPU combinations for Greedfall, this pairing ranks 2,624 out of 3,703 total combos. That places it in the 29th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 71% of tested combos perform better in this game. This relatively low ranking is notable because the Ryzen 9 5950X is a high-end CPU (91st percentile overall), but the RX 6600 XT's 70th percentile GPU ranking drags the combined performance down.

The CPU's nearest rivals in general benchmarks — Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (0.2% higher average score), AMD EPYC 8124P (0.3% higher), Intel Core i9-13900F (0.4% lower), and Intel Core i7-14700 (0.7% higher) — are all within 1% of the Ryzen 9 5950X's average benchmark score. However, in Greedfall, the game's engine appears to be GPU-bound, so the CPU's strength doesn't translate into a high combo ranking. The GPU's nearest rivals — GTX 1630, Arc A350M, GTX 780 Ti, and RTX 2080 SUPER (1.1% higher average score) — provide context for the GPU's general performance tier, but none of these are paired with the Ryzen 9 5950X in the Greedfall database.

The rank of 2,624 out of 3,703 indicates that while this combo is not a top performer, it's also not near the bottom. The 1,079 combos ranked below this pairing likely feature weaker GPUs or CPUs. Given the GPU's 70th percentile ranking, the combo's 29th percentile position in Greedfall suggests the game is particularly demanding on the GPU relative to other titles, or that the database includes many combos with more powerful GPUs paired with mid-range CPUs that outperform this setup in this specific game.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Greedfall?

A: At 4K, the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS is Low, with a 63 FPS average. Medium averages 49 FPS, High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. For a consistently smooth experience, 4K is not recommended unless you're willing to play on Low settings.

Q: What's the best preset for 1080p?

A: High settings deliver 108 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium offers 119 FPS average with a 101 FPS minimum for added headroom. Ultra drops to 69 FPS, which is still playable but has less margin for dips in demanding scenes.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 5950X's CPU power affect Greedfall performance?

A: The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads (with a 26,017 Cinebench R23 multi-core score) are more than sufficient for Greedfall. The frame rate scaling across resolutions is consistent (~30% per step), indicating the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking doesn't translate to a high combo rank (2,624 of 3,703) because the game is GPU-bound.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM on the RX 6600 XT sufficient for this game?

A: The measured data shows playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p across all presets, suggesting 8 GB is adequate at those resolutions. At 4K, performance drops significantly, which could be related to VRAM capacity, but the consistent ~30% FPS drops between resolutions point to memory bandwidth (256.0 GB/s) as the primary constraint.

Q: What's the difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: High averages 75 FPS, while Ultra averages 48 FPS — a 27 FPS difference. This is a substantial drop for the visual upgrade Ultra provides. The 48 FPS Ultra result falls below the 60 FPS target, making High the better choice for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 2,624 out of 3,703 combos in Greedfall, placing it in the 29th percentile. The GPU's 70th percentile ranking and the CPU's 91st percentile ranking show a mismatch; the CPU is far more capable than the GPU, but Greedfall doesn't utilize the CPU's full potential.